Power Bunch

By Cristin Marandino

photograph by Bob Capazzo

This magazine is no stranger to profiling some of the most powerful people in news, entertainment, politics, sports and business. I like to think that they trust us with their stories, because even for big personalities, there is a certain level of pride that comes from being featured in the hometown magazine.

This month we bring you our second annual Power Issue. Here, we profile four personalities who have broken barriers, beaten the odds and taken on the (really) bad guys. In fact, some have done all three.

If John Kelly looks familiar, it’s probably because you’ve seen the formidable lawyer on basically any station that has a news program (NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, CNN, HLN). Kelly has been at the center of the O. J. Simpson civil case, the Natalee Holloway investigation, the conviction of wife-killer Drew Peterson and so many more high-profile cases. One of the good guys, Kelly serves as a champion for the wronged. “Working on the right side of the wrong stuff—I love it,” he explains. And that is why we are thrilled to bring you his story (page 48).

Hannah Storm is no stranger to battles herself. But not of the legal sort. Instead, this determined talent fought the status quo—and won. She is now arguably one of the most recognizable sportscasters on the air today. That’s no small feat when you consider it wasn’t long ago that network executives told her it was too risky to hire a woman to commentate sports. We’re pretty sure those guys are kicking themselves (page 58).

And speaking of kicking, Clay Pecorin and Justin Zackham are most likely kicking each other right now. Proverbially at least. Though the two are best friends, verbal sparring is their clear sport of choice. Yet in between put-downs, pie fights and full-on blowouts, the pair is directing and producing movies with some of Tinseltown’s biggest names. You probably saw many of them roaming around town two summers ago while they were filming The Big Wedding (page 70).

So there you have it. These people are fun. They are fascinating. And best of all, they are ours. It’s nice to see that even though they are accustomed to living in the white-hot glare of the national media spotlight (or perhaps because of it) they find comfort in coming home.